


Exorcists Without Borders

by welzes



Category: World Trigger (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-09
Updated: 2019-10-09
Packaged: 2020-11-28 02:02:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,111
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20958617
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/welzes/pseuds/welzes
Summary: The spiritually talented Ninomiya is scouted by Jin to join Border, an organization for exorcists.





	Exorcists Without Borders

**Author's Note:**

> Originally written on August 29, 2016.

Since ancient times, humans fought in vain against spirits with sticks and stones. It was only a year ago that they discovered another mean when a group of humans calling themselves "exorcists" appeared in the ruins of a spiritual battlefield. Thereafter, an organization for exorcists - Border - was created.  
  
As an individual with spiritual talent, Ninomiya was 17 years old when an easygoing man named Jin approached and gave him a long look.  
  
"Looks like you'll do. Ninomiya . . . Masataka, right? According to your pedigree, there's the possibility you have a spirit for an ancestor."  
  
Individuals with spiritual talent were said to have descended from spirits who had chosen to lie with humans. While no method to confirm the theory existed as of yet, suspected persons, according to Border, tended to exhibit greater powers as exorcists.  
  
Jin nodded to himself. "Yeah, you'll do just fine. If you ever feel like doing something more exciting than reading books all day, stop by Border. Tell anyone who stops you my name."  
  


* * *

  
A month later, Ninomiya was assigned to the tutelage of Azuma alongside Kako and Miwa.  
  
"Once you're deemed full-fledged exorcists by Border, you'll be given subordinates of your own to train. So work hard to hone our abilities and purify the spirits that upset relations between us," said Azuma.  
  
Kako echoed, "Purify?"  
  
"I thought we were exorcising them," said Miwa, his brow creased.  
  
"Ah, that's exactly right," said Azuma, nodding to Miwa. "Our job is to exorcise hostile spirits - in other words, to purify the impurity that has caused peaceful spirits to strike out at humans. It's not advertised by Border that way, but I believe our duty to protect applies to both humans and spirits. To that end, try not to think of spirits as enemies, but as mutual victims caught up in a situation beyond their control."  
  
Ninomiya, who had read dozens upon dozens of historical texts on the bane of humanity that spirits were, studied Azuma's affable expression.  
  
Azuma continued, "Now that that's out of the way, let's begin with our first theory lesson. Before you go out to engage in spiritual battle, you'll first have to work on your spiritual powers. All of us here are thought to be descended from spirits, which means certain abilities unique to spirits lie dormant within you. In order to activate those abilities, people like us require a sacrifice. By chance, have any of you heard about the first exorcists who rescued Mikado?"  
  
"The stories are always the same. Their bodies wrapped in black, they appeared in a flash like messengers from God and exorcised the spirits terrorizing Mikado. Is that related to the sacrifice you mentioned?" asked Kako, her eyebrows arched.  
  
"Yes - those black binds you noted, to be exact. Actually, the concept is very simple; by offering one of your senses, you unlock the dormant powers containing the spiritual part of your body. Because you must give up something in exchange, we at Border refer to these powers as sacrifices."  
  
Raising his head, Azuma shot each of his subordinates a reassuring smile.  
  
"Oh, but that doesn't mean it's permanent. The sacrifice is only active for as long as you want to use your powers. It doesn't affect your physical body.  
  
"All of this may sound confusing now, but it'll come naturally with practice. More importantly, we'll need to work on activating your sacrifices before anything."  
  


* * *

  
Whereas Kako had been the first to manifest a sacrifice, Miwa had yet to show signs of the slightest potential. Gritting his teeth at another failed attempt ending in sweat, he cursed to himself.  
  
"Shuji, what's the matter?" asked Ninomiya.  
  
"Why isn't it working?"  
  
"I can't answer that. Azuma-san said you have the fundamentals down."  
  
Miwa was the youngest subordinate under Azuma. Despite his age, he grasped each theory lesson with resolute determination and was able to stand on even ground with his peers. However, weeks later, he struggled to conjure even the faintest wisp of black smoke hovering around Ninomiya.  
  
"Have you meditated?" asked Ninomiya, pointing out the daily ritual Azuma had stressed the importance of early on.  
  
"It doesn't work," said Miwa.  
  
"If it doesn't work, shouldn't you be figuring out another method that works?"  
  
For a long moment, Miwa said nothing. Then, clenching his hands into fists, he asked, "The spirits injure humans at best and kill them at worst . . . Why are we saving them?"  
  
"You don't agree with Azuma-san's teachings?"  
  
"They don't make sense."  
  
It had taken a while for Ninomiya to wrap his head around Azuma's perspective after enduring odd looks all throughout his childhood for having supposedly descended from a spirit. Kako's open mind had helped to reduce the confusion in the long run. However, he'd learned within the same week of the first lesson that not many blooming and veteran exorcists shared Azuma's views.  
"Then don't try to make sense of them. Why did you join Border?" he said.  
  
"The spirits killed my sister."  
  
"You're in it for revenge "  
  
"I'm going to exorcise every last spirit in this world." Miwa turned around to face Ninomiya. "Are you going to tell me I shouldn't?"  
  
"As long as it keeps humans safe, I don't see what the problem is."  
  
That evening, before dinner, Miwa manifested his sacrifice using the same sense as Ninomiya.  
  


* * *

  
The first one to commit an error on a mission was Ninomiya. Overestimating himself in the midst of awesome power, he momentarily separated himself from the team to hunt the fleeing spirit. Afterward, Azuma took him aside at headquarters.  
  
"Ninomiya, are you aware of your strength?" he asked, his expression grim. "Of the three of you, your sacrifice is by far the most potent. But with power comes responsibility, and you were reckless with that strength."  
  
Genuinely puzzled, Ninomiya asked, "What's the problem, Azuma-san? That spirit would have fled to the nearby village if I hadn't exorcised it."  
  
"It's true. You prevented potential harm from befalling that village. But what I'm talking about isn't about your rogue actions." Azuma sighed, the breath heavy and weary. "What you did wasn't exorcism. You didn't purify that spirit: You aren't at a level where you're capable of that yet."  
  
"Then what . . . "  
  
"You exterminated it. Instead of returning the spirit to the cycle of life, you removed it entirely. Do you know what that means? You've changed the balance of nature, and that's nothing something we, as humans, have the right to do."  
  
While the spirits' relation to the cycle of life was as debatable as the dormant potential of spirit spawns, Ninomiya fell silent. With those words coming from Azuma, he forgot for the first time the elation of acquiring great power.


End file.
